Putin kicks off at UK for helping Ukraine1 Sep 2023 17:10
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Red Star Spitfires
In addition to the 3,000 Hawker Hurricanes delivered to the Soviet Union via the North Sea, the Far East and the Persian Gulf, London also donated 1,200 Spitfires of various marks to its Russian allies. In fact, Stalin reportedly asked Churchill specifically for squadrons of the famous aircraft. The Russian Spitfires had to be pulled from the front lines however after it became clear the planes’ narrow-set under-carriage proved to be far too fragile for the unpaved airstrips of the Russian front. Soviet pilots were also unaccustomed to the wing-mounted machine guns – armaments on many Soviet planes at the time were positioned on the fuselage. [3] Worst of all, Soviet pilots and anti-aircraft gunners had trouble distinguishing the streamlined silhouette of the British fighter from German BF-109s, particularly the squared wing-tip configuration of the later Mk. LF IX Spitfire. Efforts were made to more clearly mark the Spitfires with larger and even brighter insignia, but they had little effect. The planes were withdrawn to the relative quiet of southern Russia. [4]